Wrench.



WLB. ELLIOTT.

WRENCH Patented July 5,-1910.

AWS.

WILLIAlVl E. ELLIOTT, OF SAUL'I STE. MARIE, MICHIGAN.

WRENCH.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 5, 1910.

Application led October 1, 1909. Serial No. 520,531.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM E. ELLIOTT, a subject of the King ofEngland, residing at Sault Ste. Marie, in the county of Chippowa andState of Michigan, have invented a new and useful Vrench, of which thefollowing is a specification.

My invention relates to wrenches and has for an object to provide awrench that can be backed over the corners of a nut to obtain a new gripwithout removing the aws from the nut.

Another object is to provide a wrench in which the movable jaw willautomatically move to operative position.

A further object is to provide a wrench which can be adjusted to operateas a monkey wrench or as a ratchet wrench by a simple pressure of theoperators hand upon the releasing member.

lith the above advantages and other objects in view which will appear asthe description proceeds, my invention embraces certain novel details ofconstruction 'and combination of parts which will be hereinafter morefully described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of thisspccification;-Figure 1 is a side elevation of a wrench constructed inaccordance with my invention with a portion of the handle removed toexpose the operating mechanism. F ig. 2 is a bottom plan view of myimproved wrench. Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view taken on the lineA-B of Fig. 1 looking in the direction of the arrow heads. Fig. t is adetail perspective view of the removable handle plate. Fig. 5 is aperspective view of the spring pawl.

Like characters of reference designate similar parts in the views shown.

Referring now to the drawings, 1 designates the shank of the wrenchhaving at one end a liXed jaw 2. Slidingly mounted on the shank 1 is amovable jaw 3 having an integral shank 1, the top face of which isprovided with a series of ratchet teeth 5. The end of the shank 1 remotefrom the fixed jaw is expanded to form a substantially oblongenlargement 6 which is provided with a longitudinal recess 7, formed inits bottom face and opening through its side face and one end face, asshown.

An L shaped plate 8 is removably secured by screws or similar connectors9 to the recessed side of the enlargement 7 and col operates with thelatter to form a convenient handle and also a closure for the opening inthe bottom and the side face of the enlarge- Inent.

The recess 7 is enlarged at its forward end to form a chamber 10 whichis preferably rectangular in contour and extends from approximately themiddle portion of the recess to within a slight distance from the endface ll of the handle.

A spiral spring l2 is seated in the recess 7 and is held under tensionbetween the end face 13 of the toothed shank 5, which latter projectsinto the recess below the chamber, and the opposite end face 14 of therecess whereby to normally hold the jaws closed. The spring stores upenergy as the movable jaw is slid back from the fixed jaw to return thesame to its initial position as soon as the jaw is released.

A pawl 15 is pivoted at one end to the side walls of the chamber 10 andis provided on its bottom face with a series of teeth 16 to engage theratchet teeth of the shank 4. The teeth of the pawl are formed fromsubstantially the middle portion of its bottom face to the forward edgethereof, and are disposed in a plane intersecting the plane of thebottom face of the pawl so that a considerable number of teeth will bein engagement with the ratchet teeth of the movable shank 4t when thepawl is rocked into engagement therewith.

A leaf spring 17 is rigidly secured at one end to the top face of thepawl and bears at its free end against the top wall of the chamber tonormally hold the pawl in engagement with the ratchet teeth of themovable shank.

A yoke piece 18 is hinged at its extremities to the side Walls of thepawl adjacent the free end thereof and straddles the movable shank f1.The cross bar 19 of the yoke projects through a suitable opening -20formed in the L shaped plate 8 to provide a convenient shoulder againstwhich the thumb or forefino'er of the operators hand may be placed t0orce back the pawl against the pressure of its spring and release thepawl teeth from engagement with the ratchet teeth of the movable jaw 4.

It is evident that a pressure on the yoke piece will permit the movablejaw to be slid back from the lixed jaw against the pressure of thespiral spring. Upon the pressure being removed from the yoke the pawlwill engagevthe .shank of the movable jaw and lock the jaw in position.The wrench maybe `vnow used as an ordinary monkey-wrench. v

Should the yoke bedepressed while rthe jaws are in the -position shownin Fiy l, the movable jaw will at once be closed by the spiral springl2. The particularV advantage lof this feature is that the jaws maybeadjusted to grip the wrenchifaces of a nut n the usual manner, butinstead of having to remove Ythe wrench from thenu't faces when thewrench has been revolved to an inconvenient angle for manipulation, theyokefmaybe depressed by the thumb or forefinger of the hand. grippingthe Vwrench han'- j dle, when the pawl will be released and the Y wrenchmaybe readily backed over the corners of the nut until the jawshaveagain come into position for a-newgrip upon the A wrench faces. Thespring will then lautomatically close the movable jaw upon the j nutafter which the pressure may berei ymoved, fromjthe "yoke to f moving'the wrench from operative position permit the pawl to yagain engage theratchet teeth of the movable shank. vThe jaws will nowbe locked inposition andthe wrench can again be..V

Voperation ofmy invention will 4be easily un- `derstood without amoreextended explana- ,'tion, it *being understood that various Vchangesinthe form, proportion and minor details'o'f construction maybe madewithout Vsacrificing any of the advantages or depart-gk ing from thespirit yof the invention. yWhat is claimed'is';-,

l 1. In aV tool, ashank terminating at one end in. a lxed jaw, andhaving a'longitudinal recess formed lin its bottom face' and `openingthrough its side face remote from f said jaw, a removable L shaped plateassembledwith said shank to form a closure for said recess, a Vmovablejaw seated on said to hold the aws normally closed, a pawl shank,andhaving a shank projectin into `saidrecess, said shank being providewith ratchetteeth on its top-face, a spiral spring seated in said recessand exerting apressure on the end face of the movable jaw shank inythe'direction of said fixed jaw whereby 1voted at one end tothe'sidewalls o sai recess above said spiral spring vand having a series ofteeth formed on its bottom face adjacent its free end to engage saidratchet teeth, a spring to hold the free end ofthe pawl normally inengagement with said teeth, and a yoke piece carried by said pawl forreleasing the same from engagement with the ratchet teeth.

2. In a tool, a shank having avfixed jaw at one end, and a substantiallyoblong enlargement at the other, said enlargement having a recess formedlongitudina ly its length opening through its side and bottom faces, andan oblong chamber formed at one end of said recess, a removable L shapedplate adapted to forni a closure forsaid recess and chamber andcoperating with said enlargement to form a handle, a movable jaw seatedvon said shank and movable thereon toward and away from said fixed jaw,said movable jaw having ashank projecting into said recess below ysaidchamber, said shank having ratchet teeth formed on its top face, aspiral spring seated in said recess and exerting a pressure on saidshank in the direction of the fixed jaw whereby to keep said jawsnormally closed, `a spring pawl pivoted at one end in said chamber andhaving a series of teeth formed on its bottom face adapted to engage theratchet teeth of said movable jaw shankyand4 a yoke piece hinged at 'itsextremities to the. free end of said pawl and straddling said movablejaw shank for releasing the pawl from engagement with said shank.v f Y'In testimony that I' claim the foregoing Y as my own, I have heretoaiiixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

" WILLIAM E. ELLIOTT.

Witnesses: j

' FRED R. HovINs'rRA,

I-IUBERT J. PARsILLn.

